[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7490-7491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02656]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-FHC-2015-N033; FF05F24400-FXFR13350500000]


Proposed Information Collection; Horseshoe Crab Tagging Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) 
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take 
this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire 
on May 31, 2015. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not 
required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.

DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC, 
we must receive them by April 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or [email protected] 
(email). Please include ``1018-0127'' in the subject line of your 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    Horseshoe crabs play a vital role commercially, biomedically, and 
ecologically along the Atlantic coast. Horseshoe crabs are commercially 
harvested and used as bait in eel and conch fisheries. Biomedical 
companies along the coast also collect and bleed horseshoe crabs at 
their facilities. Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate is derived from crab blood, 
which has no synthetic substitute, and is used by pharmaceutical 
companies to test sterility of products. Finally, migratory shorebirds 
also depend on the eggs of horseshoe crabs to refuel on their 
migrations from South America to the Arctic. One bird in particular, 
the red knot, feeds primarily on horseshoe crab eggs during its 
stopover. Effective January 12, 2015, this species was listed as 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
    In 1998, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a 
management organization with representatives from each State on the 
Atlantic Coast, developed a horseshoe crab management plan. The ASMFC 
plan and its subsequent addenda established mandatory State-by-State 
harvest quotas, and created the 1,500-square-mile Carl N. Shuster, Jr., 
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary off the mouth of Delaware Bay.
    Restrictive measures have been taken in recent years, but 
populations are increasing slowly. Because horseshoe crabs do not breed 
until they are 9 years or older, it may take some time before the 
population measurably increases. Federal and State agencies, 
universities, and biomedical companies participate in a Horseshoe Crab 
Cooperative Tagging Program. The Maryland Fishery Resources Office, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, maintains the information that we 
collect under this program and uses it to evaluate migratory patterns, 
survival, and abundance of horseshoe crabs.
    Agencies that tag and release the crabs complete FWS Form 3-2311 
(Horseshoe Crab Tagging) and provide the Service with:
     Organization name.
     Contact person name.
     Tag number.
     Sex of crab.
     Prosomal width.
     Capture site, latitude, longitude, waterbody, State, and 
date.
    Members of the public who recover tagged crabs provide the 
following information using FWS Form 3-2310 (Horseshoe Crab Recapture 
Report):
     Tag number.
     Whether or not tag was removed.
     Whether the tag was circular or square.
     Condition of crab.
     Date captured/found.
     Crab fate.
     Finder type.
     Capture method.
     Capture location.
     Reporter information.
     Comments.
    If the public participant who reports the tagged crab requests 
information, we send data pertaining to the tagging program and tag and 
release information on the horseshoe crab that was found or captured.

I. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-0127.
    Title: Horseshoe Crab Tagging Program.

[[Page 7491]]

    Service Form Number(s): 3-2310 and 3-2311.
    Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: Tagging agencies include Federal and 
State agencies, universities, and biomedical companies. Members of the 
general public provide recapture information.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion when horseshoe crabs are 
tagged and when horseshoe crabs are found or captured.

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                                           Number of       Number of
               Activity                     annual          annual         Completion time per     Annual burden
                                          respondents      responses            response               hours
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FWS Form 3-2310.......................           1,160           2,750  5 minutes...............             229
FWS Form 3-2311.......................              18              18  95 hours*...............           1,710
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Totals............................           1,178           2,768  ........................           1,939
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* Average time required per response is dependent on the number of tags applied by an agency in 1 year. Agencies
  tag between 25 and 9,000 horseshoe crabs annually, taking between 2 to 5 minutes per crab to tag, record, and
  report data. Each agency determines the number of tags it will apply.

    Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

III. Comments

    We invite comments concerning this information collection on:
     Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
     The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 
collection of information;
     Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this IC. Before including your address, phone number, 
email address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your 
personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

    Dated: February 4, 2015.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02656 Filed 2-9-15; 8:45 am]
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